Triumphant T&T back on CAZOVA track

PARIMARIBO, Suriname, August 13 – Trinidad and Tobago bounced back from a heart-breaking defeat last night to defeat Suriname 19-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-15 and remain in contention to complete a hat-trick of titles in the Men’s CAZOVA (Caribbean Zonal Volleyball Association) Championships here at the Ismay Van Wilgen Sporthal.

After being stunned by Barbados in a five-set thriller, the three-time champions were outplayed in the opening set by the only unbeaten in the tournament to that stage.

But Sean Morrison did not panic, pointing out that “we knew they would start to get tired and we were fitter than them and just kept up the consistency.”

The hosts played after T&T last night and came off the court later that 1 a.m. after edging Bahamas in the longest match of the tournament (2 ½ hours), and the T&T coach expected it would take a toll on them as the second game of this morning’s double header progressed.

Morrison was right, as after a brilliant first set, Suriname’s level kept dropping, and after losing two close sets, they were never a real threat in the fourth.

Suriname’s Cuban coach Sergio Valdes stated: “Trinidad is a good team. We may have been tired, but everybody is tired at this stage.”

And his captain Casey Foe A Man admitted that they were not really tired, but the problem was “we did what we wanted to, not what we were supposed to do.”

Still their Kevin Sporkslede and Zefano Breinburg were the joint leading scorers in the 102-minute contest with 21 points each. However after leading the way with 28 against Bahamas, Gino Naarden’s contribution was only ten this time.

Last year’s CAZOVA Most Valuable Player Brandon Legall top-scored for T&T with 16 points. And Marc Honore, who had played for his country for well over ten years, Mikheil Hoyte and the country’s No. 1 beach volleyball player Daneil Williams also got into double figures on the scoresheet for the winners with 10, 11 and 13 points, respectively.

Suriname had beaten Haiti and Bahamas in their previous two matches and the winner of their clash with Barbados in the second match of tonight’s double header will qualify for tomorrow night’s final.

The opponents for the title will be the winner of tomorrow morning’s final round-robin encounter between Bahamas and T&T, providing Bahamas get by the winless Haitians in tonight’s first match at six o’clock.